Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Chow Yun-Fat is "Mickey Mouse", a professional killer for hire. After having a shootout in a bar, he leaves a beautiful singer blind. He secretly follows her around and begins to know her after she is being mugged one night after leaving the bar. The police are following in on him and his whereabouts. Soon, the Triads and police are all closing in on him.

It's a pretty sweet action film. I remember seeing this film in the winter of 1999. I was ten years old and was pretty blown away at the action in this. Chow Yun-Fat does a great job in this movie. And the ending is pretty spectacular. I give the film a 5/5.Hard Boiled (1992): 5/5

Chow Yun-Fat is on the law's side in John Woo's follow up. This time Chow is Tequlia, a cop is down and out after his partner gets killed in a tea house. Tequlia vows to get all of those responsible and that leads him onto the trail of Alan. Alan, played by Tony Leung, is an informant who is way over his head and it has come to the point where he has no way out. It all leads to a massive, all out war at a hospital where police and Triads collide.

This film is nothing short of a masterpiece. Chow Yun-Fat and Tony Leung are a great duo who constantly bicker and kick ass throughout the movie. The whole warehouse raid is amazing as we have nothing but gunfire and explosions left and right. And the whole hospital sequence at the end just tops it. This is the essential action movie. 5/5.

Video: 3/5Before I start going into the video for both films, I am not sure if the original individual releases by Dragon Dynasty/The Weinstein Company/Vivendi Visual/Whatever has this, but Alliance put a warning screen before we get to the menu that says:

"The quality of the audio and video on this Blu-ray may reflect the age of the source material."

That is because there is some bad quality control problems with the transfers. Starting with The Killer; I question when this HD master was created, because no way was it in 2010 when this was released on the format. Horrible is an under statement for this film. In the opening when we see Chow Yun-Fat leaving the church, you think you'd be able to see his face as he walks towards the camera in this shot, but you can't even make out his face at all. Was that him? The details were so blocky and blurry that I'm unable to tell.

The grain is faked out like crazy to try to make this pass off as a decent film transfer. But the grain can't hide the macro-blocks that popped up on Chow Yun-Fat's face several times. If this was a real HD sourced transfer, it must have been made in the late 1990's, maybe around the time the film itself had turned ten years old. There's no way this was made in the 2000's. It's bad. There should be clarity; instead, white bleeds through the image like crazy and daytime scenes look disastrous to the eyes. 2/5Hard Boiled is not as disastrous of a transfer. While this one is far from perfect, the action scenes are mostly preserved, especially most of the epic hospital shootout at the end. However, the image constantly wobbles in places. We also have a lot of print damage present throughout the film. Saturation and contrast is pretty strong.

When the presentation of Hard Boiled is nice and crystal clear, it's amazing. It's just a shame that Hard Boiled and The Killer could not get that five star treatment like they did when they were released by Criterion. These would have been excellent releases. But, at the end of the day, I give the transfer for Hard Boiled a 3.5/5.

Audio: 4/5Oddly, The Killer is presented in English and Cantonese Dolby Digital 2.0. When you select the Chinese audio, the English subtitles are forced, and you cannot turn them on if you select English audio. The audio tracks are average. I prefered the sound of the Cantonese audio more than the English dubbing. Why we couldn't get this in DTS-HD MA is beyond me. 2.5/5.Hard Boiled,unlike The Killer, is presented with English and Cantonese DTS-HD MA 5.1 tracks on this disc. Just like the previous film, subtitles are forced on the Cantonese audio. Why you would force subtitles is idiotic to me. The audio is pretty sweet on this one. The music of the saxophone playing when Tony Leung enters the film and various explosions boom throughout; it's a shame The Killer couldn't get this treatment audio wise. 5/5.

Extras: 0/5This Blu-ray contains no extras.

Overall: 3/5Despite the horrible visual presentations, I felt this was worth the $17 I got it for. I am sure you can get the individual, domestic U.S. releases for about the same price I got this Canadian release for. These two films are classics. Just hope and pray that Criterion can get the rights back and do these films proper, especially The Killer. 3/5.

Monday, November 12, 2012

I remember being an eight year old child in the year 1998. It was about a month before my ninth birthday when Blade came out. Sure, most children wouldn't be taken to see an R-rated action film like this. But, my parents taught me from a young age that what I saw on screen was not real. That was essentially one of the things that got me to really like filmmaking. So, by the time I was five or six, I saw Species. And I was seven years old when I watched An American Werewolf in London, Alien, and Evil Dead. Point being, I was exposed to stuff most parents probably wouldn't dream of in this day and age with political correctness. And I am sure most would probably place Blade in that category.

Blade is based off of the popular Marvel comic story of a half-human, half-vampire who goes around saving the world from the vampire underworld. A vampire by the name of Deacon Frost sets to bring about a vampire God known as La Magra. While Blade sets out to stop Deacon, he has a young medical examiner named Karen held captive as she was bitten by one of Deacon's henchmen. While in Blade's care, Karen believes that she has found a cure that could possibly end the vampire plague.

This was a childhood favorite. An example of what action was to me as a child; we see Snipes as Blade busting up an underground vampire dance club causing a full vampire slaughter. Snipes was great as Blade and the same goes for Stephen Dorff as Deacon. We see how ruthless our protagonist and antagonist get to their goals. And the final battle is nothing but badass. I give this film a 5/5 for being nostalgic reasons.

Video:Alliance brought Blade to Blu-ray years before WB made their initial release in 2012. I picked up this Blu-ray in March 2011 as a local grocery store I frequent oddly carries Canadian DVDs and Blu-rays in their cheapo bins. This transfer is pretty bad; it is cropped from 2.35 to 1.78 and there is a major amount of image cut off from the sides of the screen and everything is pretty much dead center of the image. The main thing that I learned from my film classes is that you want to keep the audience's eyes moving around the screen. The eyes don't move that much with this transfer of the film.

While cropping is the biggest offender on this release, I couldn't find any real print damage to the film. The details are okay. Seeing this cropped version, I didn't realize that Frost's eye glow red when he's covered in backlighting towards the end of the film. I am giving the video a 2/5, only because of this bad crop job that the film has.

Audio:Alliance has given us three audio tracks for the film; English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and English and French Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks. I have listened to the film dubbed in French, since it's my third language. For a French dub and for an audio track, it sounded ok. The Dolby Digital in English sounds tame and you have to manually switch over with your remote to the DTS-HD MA track as the DD is the default. The DTS-HD MA track sounds pretty good. I have no real complaints towards it. 5/5 for the sound presentation.

Extras:
None. The movie has a screen that will tell you that the movie will begin and that's it. 0/5.

Overall:Blade remains a childhood favorite of mine. For us who got this Canadian release, it's a shame that they decided to release this film cropped. The visual presentation is hands down the biggest thing for me when it comes to watching movies. Seeing stuff get cropped from it's original aspect ratio to, like, 1.33 like Howling 3 and McLintock! is a damn shame, especially in this day and age. And that applies to movies being cropped from 2.35 to 1.78. This release does not deserve the score it gets. 3/5.

Another remake, this time of the French film Anthony Zimmer, The Tourist stars Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp in the lead roles. While I haven't seen the original film, I did find this one to be an okay film. In this film, Johnny Depp is Frank, a math teacher, from Wisconsin who is travelling after the death of his wife. While on a train from France to Italy, he meets Elise, who is waiting for her fugitive husband. After arriving in Italy; Frank is being chased down by corrputed Italian police, Russian mobsters, and British Secret Service.

I give the film a 3.5/5. It is certainly better than some of the recent films that both actors have put out lately; Dark Shadows! It's not perfect by any means. I did notice that one of the Russian mobsters was the antagonist of another film I recently reviewed, the straight-to-video Driven to Kill with Steven Seagal. Will I search out the original French film? Maybe if there's a Blu-ray out there.

Before we continue on with the review; this is the disc from the Steelbook release which came out in September 2012. Despite the disc art, I am assuming this is the same disc from the original release due to the fact that the British and German studios which Studio Canal converted are their original names; Optimum and Kinowelt, respectively. Also, disc is Region B locked.

Video:
The video presentation on this disc is questionable. I am not sure if this is entirely the same master presented on the American release by Sony. The video is almost flawless during the first hour. I could have sworn that this was possibly shot digitally after looking at it close up. But, when we get to around an hour, six minutes in, the problems start. In the scene where Angelina's character is talking to Paul Bettany's character, a large scratch pops up on the screen. Then when we get to the climax of the film; shots are almost completely out of focus. It was almost jarring to look at. Then, on top of that, there is more print damage that we are dealing with. Not sure if Studio Canal was just given a print of the film or this was the master itself. Despite these problems, I give the video a 4/5.

Audio:
We have three audio tracks present on the film; English, French, and German. Studio Canal has presented all three audio tracks in DTS-HD MA 5.1. After watching the film in English; I went through the film and sampled the French and German tracks. They are both on par with the English track. No real complaints here. 5/5.

Extras:
"Bringing Glamour" which discusses the making of the film with the director and cast. "Canal Chats" which starts with the director talking about a ritual smoke on the way home. Then we have the producer and one of the writers giving some input on the film and shooting in Venice. "Traveling the Canals of Venice", mostly the same as the last feature, this time with the actors, mostly. "Action in Venice" which dissects one of the action scenes in the film. "The Gala" which is the crew talking about constructing the gala scene towards the end of the film. Then finally we have outtakes, an interview with Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck, and a collection of trailers. Why most of these weren't merged into a "Making of" is beyond me. It's informative, but pointless to have them all chopped up into bits like this. I did like it. 5/5.

Overall:
If you live in Europe, this disc will suit you. If you're in the States, then just stick to the Sony release. Unless you're a Steelbook collector. I got this from a seller who swapped the discs out. I think for the price I paid for, which was about $4, I can recommend it. 4/5.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Movie: 2/5
Video: 3.5/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 2.5/5
Overall: 3/5"Sleazy Fun for the Whole Family..."Movie:I Spit on Your Grave (1978):The original 1979 film is a classic that gives The Last House on the Left a run for it's money. Jennifer Hills is an aspiring author who takes off to the remote country side to write her first book. After meeting a few of the town folk, Jennifer goes out one day and is attacked and brutally raped and left for dead. Soon, Jennifer finds the nerve to take revenge and will make them all pay.It seems like this was the thing back in the 1970's; with films like Last House on the Left, Trip with the Teacher, and I Spit on Your Grave. Woman. or women if this is Trip with the Teacher, get raped and go out for revenge. Because clearly the law does not exist in these type of films. My main complaint with the time length is that's about fifteen to twenty minutes too long; it clocks in at 106 minutes long. The kills are pretty good, vfx wise, but the film drags a bit. It's not that bad compared to something like A Serbian Film. I give the original I Spit on Your Grave a 3.5/5.I Spit on Your Grave (2010):
*CAUTION: SPOILERS! YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!*Whoever decided that film should be remade should hopefully never work on another feature film again. This film is downright horrible and for the fact that Meir Zarchi himself has defending this film is wrong. The acting is bad; the story, with how much has been changed from the original, is worse. Since I am sure this was low budget and I'm going to guess about $5 million, the producers couldn't get big talent like Kirsten Stewart, Jason Statham, Timothy Olyphant, Eli Roth, Giovanni Ribbisi, and Ethan Suplee to head this cast; so you know what they do? Get a bunch of look-a-likes to fill the roles!Jennifer Hills is played by Sarah Butler who has the same dead-in-the-eyes look like Kirsten Stewart, but gives a better performance than Stewart ever could; who this time has all ready written several novels and is on a retreat to write her next book. Que in the gas station attendent not played by Timothy Olyphant; the handicapped Matthew not played by Giovanni Ribbisi; cameraman not played by Ethan Suplee; and finally not Eli Roth. But, wait, to be creative; they added a fifth rapist! Bring in Not Jason Statham as the main villain of the film!This film wants to be better version of Saw or Hostel or A Serbian Film but fails miserably as we add in the extreme torture which was not really part of the original film. These deaths feel more Saw-like than what the original 1979 I Spit on Your Grave had to offer, because these deaths are elaborate as hell. And to give some spoilers here, I don't think having your eyes plucked out of your head by horrible CGI crows will kill you. I think Not Ethan Suplee will be ok.Steven Monroe, much like the director of The Hitcher remake, should be ashamed for making this film. What made the original I Spit on Your Grave such a trying film is that we see the hell that Jennifer goes through. We follow her throughout the film. We don't follow these horrible look-a-like actors as they pee their pants like school kids. I found no redeeming qualities to this film and it wanted to be violent for the sake of being violent. There was no justification, spoilers here, to kidnapping Not Jason Statham's daughter. And on top of that there was no resolution to that either. Did Jennifer kill the daughter? The answer is; "This remake sucked!" .5/5.Video:
For the original 1979, I Spit on Your Grave, the transfer is conflicting. While I praise the rich detail in the colors that has been preserved on this transfer; there is always some sort of problem to it. The video is shaking up and down for a majority of the opening of the film. It was driving me nuts to see this thing bouncing. The print damage of dirt and specs did not bother me as much as that bouncing did. There was one scene where it took place at night where there was some discoloration. If it was not for these flaws, this would have been the perfect transfer for a film that is over thirty years old. I give the video presentation a 3.5/5.The 2010 remake of I Spit on Your Grave was shot on a Red camera. However, when they shot it, they did it at a bad frame rate. Most of the film looks like PAL video converted to NTSC. It looks badly sped up like the 2D version of My Bloody Valentine 3D in a lot of shots. Even a shot in the forest when we first see Not Jason Statham's character has this bizarre shot where everything is fuzzy. I was like; "What's with the video here?" While the detail is mostly there, this problematic frame-rate is an extreme buzz kill. I give the video a 3.5/5.Audio:
The main audio presentation on the original film is an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track. I know audio isn't my strongest field of expertise, but even after listening to this, the audio is the weakest part of the original film's presentation. Sounds, like hearing the engine to a boat sound weak and not booming at all. While hearing Jennifer scream and cry in pain sound convincing in this audio track, there seems to be no real remaster to this at all. I give the audio a 2.5/5.Well, we have the same English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track on the 2010 remake. The detail on the audio is pretty good. No real complaints out of it. We hear shotgun blasts pretty loud and clear. Dialog sounds good. I give it a 5/5.Extras:
For the original film, we have two commentary tracks; one by Meir Zarchi and another by Joe Bob Briggs. Both commentaries are ok. I do appreciate Joe Bob Briggs' input on this; as I grew up watching him on weekends on TNT when I was child. We also have trailers, TV spots, Meir Zarchi giving a look back on the film; a photo gallery; and an alternate title card which is for Day of the Woman. Which, you know, both titles don't really fit. But, hey. I give the original film's bonus a 3/5.For the remake we have a commentary by the director and one of the co-producers. "Revenge of Jennifer Hills" which has Meir Zarchi and some others talking about how much they loved and crapped all over the original film with this remake. Some deleted scenes. And trailers. I give the bonus a 1.5/5. I wasn't interested in this stuff as much as I hated this remake.Overall:
I got this on the Best Buy Upgrade and Save after taking in a DVD to get a $5 off coupon. I got this double feature Blu-ray for $5.33 after tax. On one hand, I did end up liking the original film. But, just downright hated the remake. I find it insulting that this was made and that I wasted my time on it. I give this release a 3/5. Only get it if you like the original film.

Movie: 2.5/5
Video: 3/5
Audio: 4/5
Extras: 1.5/5
Overall: 3/5"An Example of a Poor Screen Writing""Sasori" aka "Female Convict: Scorpion" is a 2007 Chinese-Japanese co-production. Based on the Japanese manga and 70's film series with the same name, Miki Mizuno of "Gamera 2" fame is Nami. A beautiful woman who is forced to kill her boyfriend's father. After her boyfriend arrives, he finds Nami holding a knife to her boyfriend's sister. After killing her, she is taken into police custody and is put into a harsh prison environment that is kill or be killed.This film tries too hard to be smart and it leaves you with more questions than answers to the villain's true plot to the film. Why did the villain want the boyfriend's father dead? Why did we not learn who the villain was until the last half hour of the film? Why were the fight scenes with Nami and the people who forced her to kill her boyfriend's father so short at the end of the film? The whole damn prison fight sequences went on and on, but this was like two second kills here.This film is nothing more but an example of poor screen writing. As an audience who are watching Nami go out for revenge are stuck watching her fight in a prison and questioning when she is going to be getting her vengeance. Where the writing is poor for most of the film, the action was mostly entertaining. I will give it that. Film gets a dismal 2.5/5.Video:
This is my third outing with the despicable Media Blasters, the other two being Devil Dog and Destroy All Monsters. I am going to guess the Chinese studio who released the film handled the transfer for the film. It's amazing how rough a five year film can actually look. The film has constant print damage througout. There is a scene or two that you can tell is meant to have print damage as part of the story, but, that you can tell is faked print damage. Also, there's a few shots that looked blurry. Also, the film looks totally washed out and contrast is blown out. I am not sure if it's a director's choice or not, but this does not bode well. Video scores a 3/5.Audio:Media Blasters has given us two audio tracks present on this disc; Chinese DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1. Why we need a 2.0 track when 5.1 is fine as it is make that whole audio track questionable and a waste of space. The 5.1 track sounds great. We can hear sounds of Nami's sword hitting nicely. However, something feels a bit missing from the audio. Also, this registers as Japanese even though it's Chinese on my system. An authoring error by Media Blasters, go figure. I give the audio a 4/5.Extras:
We only have trailers for Female Convict: Scorpion; Crows Zero; and Hansel and Gretel. The two trailers for the last two titles do have my interest and I might seek them out in the future. However, as far as extras go, this is a weak offering from Media Blasters. 1.5/5.Overall:
Why was this film made? Can someone answer this question for me? I really don't know. It's just a poorly written and paced action movie that really had it's climax in the whole prison sequence with 45 minutes of filler after it. Don't pay more than $6 like I did for this. 3/5.

The "Ernest" films were watched frequently in my childhood. I had a VHS tape of Ernest Scared Stupid that I had watched constantly throughout the years. Jim Varney is Ernest, the "Great Redneck Hope" in this family themed horror film. Ernest awakens an ancient troll hellbent on kidnapping children and turning them into wooden dolls. After he collects five, he can bring about his evil army to destroy the world.

Seeing this constantly as a child, this film means a lot to me. It's a great blend of horror-comedy with Jim Varney as the bumbling Ernest. It's not perfect, as you can crack a lot of jokes about the film. Like; why do none of the parents want Ernest near the kids? That comes up a lot in the film with no real reason why. I mean, has Ernest met Chris Hansen? With To Catch a Predator jokes aside, the film is pretty entertaining, especially with the visual effects of how the trolls look. Our main trill, Trantor looks frightening that might be a little much for smaller children. I give the film a 4.5/5.

Video:Mill Creek has given Ernest Scared Stupid a fantastic visual presentation. Presented in 1080p with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio, the film is near perfection. The only real problem is print damage which pops up here and there. Also, there's a scene where there's some discoloration on the right side of the screen towards the end of the film. Other than that, for a film that is over twenty years old, this is the best it will ever look. 4.5/5.

Audio:Mill Creek gives us a basic Dolby Digital 2.0 audio track for Ernest Scared Stupid.It would have been perfect if it had a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track, but we can only dream. The audio track itself is average, leaving you for more out of this release. 2.5/5.Extras:None, 0/5.Overall:Despite the bad audio and no extras, Mill Creek has given us a great visual presentation on Ernest Scared Stupid. And the great thing is that you can get this release for $1 at Dollar Tree! I give this release a 3/5 and I quite recommend it.